Riding My Orange Bike

Many years ago I had a dream with an orange bike in it. Orange is the colour of the second chakra, “svadhistana”, the sacral chakra, the dwelling place of the self. I have always been drawn to orange, it is the colour of monks robes, and has a spiritual association to me. It has the simultaneous effect for me of being both soothing, and stimulating . In the language of chakras, orange relates to creativity and sexuality.

I really wanted an orange bike in the actual, physical, tangible world; “dream orange bike” was not going to be enough. I think sometimes the dream world shows us objects, images, or symbols that can be really important for us, and sometimes we have to go out in the world, and find something that can be a reminder of something important our psyche is working with. I really wanted an orange bike. I wanted an orange bike to remind me that the vehicle I most want to ride in this world , is a creative one. My art teacher Tina Le Marque used to say we pick the colours we need to heal ourselves. Orange has always felt like a very healing colour to me. It has felt like the colour of the spiritual path I want to follow, and the creative one.

Donald Winnicott the English pschoanalyst and developer of object relations theory, first coined the term “transistional object”. A transistional object is an object used by a child to offer comfort and while the child is temporarily away from security, such as mother or home. Eventually the child matures and no longer needs the transistional object. My bike is my transistional object, reminding me of my connection to my creative and spiritual home. One day I may not need it, but for now it reminds me every day, that the journey I want to be on is a creative one. What is your orange bike